Perceived Organizational Support

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Coyle-ch10.qxd 1/16/04 3:00 PM Page 213 Perceived Organizational Support 213 10.4.3 Performance–reward expectancies OST proposes a reciprocal relationship between POS and performance–reward expectancies (Eisenberger et al. 1986; Shore and Shore 1995). By providing employees with favorable opportunities for rewards, the organization would convey high regard for its employees and increase POS. In turn, POS would increase employees’ expectancies that high performance will be rewarded by the organization. Accordingly, Eisenberger et al. (1990) found a positive relationship between POS and performance–reward expectancies. However, cross-lag panel studies have not yet been conducted to assess the proposed reciprocal relationship between POS and performance–reward expectancies. 10.4.4 Stress In stressful situations, POS might reduce psychological strain by indicating the availability of emotional and tangible support (George et al. 1993; Robblee 1998). Thus, POS weakened the relationship between nurses’ degree of contact with AIDS patients and negative mood at work (George et al. 1993), and tempered the negative relationship between British pub-workers’ experiences of threats and violence by patrons and their work-related well-being (Leather et al. 1998). It is also possible that POS could decrease employees’ strain at both low and high exposure to stressors (cf. Viswesvaran et al. 1999). Negative relationships have been reported regarding POS and fatigue (Cropanzano et al. 1997), burnout (Cropanzano et al. 1997), anxiety (Venkatachalam 1995; Robblee 1998), and headaches (Robblee 1998). The potential for POS to have direct effects on the reduction of stress in the workplace is an important area of research that needs further investigation. The preventative health benefits that employees would receive could result in substantial savings on the part of the organization regarding absenteeism and slowed production due to overly stressed employees. 10.5 Behavioral outcomes of POS OST assumes that felt obligation, fulfillment of socio-emotional needs, affective commitment, and performance–reward expectancies all contribute to increased performance and decreased withdrawal behavior. Accordingly, Rhoades and Eisenberger’s (2002) meta-analysis reported that POS had highly reliable effects on in-role performance, extra-role performance, and turnover. In view of possible biases in supervisors’ performance ratings, of particular interest were positive relationships found between POS and objective performance measures, including the numbers of constructive suggestions made by steel company employees (Eisenberger et al. 1990) and speeding tickets issued and driving-under-the-influence arrests made by state police patrol officers (Armeli et al. 1998). The felt obligation that POS is presumed to produce should enhance performance. Accordingly, Eisenberger et al. (2001) found that felt obligation mediated the
Coyle-ch10.qxd 1/16/04 3:00 PM Page 214 214 Exchange Nature of Employment Relationship positive relationship between POS and extra-role behavior. It also follows that the relationship between POS and behavioral outcomes should be stronger among employees who strongly endorse the reciprocity norm as applied to employee– employer relationships. Consistent with that belief, Armeli and colleagues (1998) reported that the negative association between teachers’ POS and absenteeism increased with the strength of their exchange ideology. Because POS should meet employees’ socio-emotional needs, employees with strong socio-emotional needs should place more value on POS. Consequently, these employees should more strongly reciprocate the organization’s support. In agreement with this view, Armeli et al. (1998) found that among police officers, the incremental relationship between POS and issuance of speeding and driving-under-the-influence citations was greater among officers with strong needs for esteem, affiliation, emotional support, and approval. 10.6 Future research directions We now turn to five research areas in which the extension of OST would, we believe, be particularly useful for understanding employee–employer relationships. First, we consider possible relationships between OST and another social exchange approach to employment relationships, psychological contract theory. We then examine the development of POS in the early stages of the employee–employer relationship. Next, we cover attributional processes that employees may use in addition to the voluntariness of treatment to determine the organization’s support. In view of the strong influence of perceived voluntariness of treatment on POS, these other attributional processes hold considerable promise for future research. We then discuss POS in part-time and temporary employment, job types that have yet to receive much attention in the organizational support literature despite their increasing representation in the workforce. Finally, we provide suggestions for future research on the relationships between HR practices and POS. 10.6.1 Psychological contract theory Psychological contract theory (Rousseau 1995; Morrison and Robinson 1997) maintains that employees develop a set of perceived mutual obligations between themselves and their work organizations, called a psychological contract. Based on the norm of reciprocity, psychological contract theory holds that the strength of employees’ obligations to the organization and their willingness to fulfill them depend on employees’ belief that the organization has fulfilled its obligations to them (Coyle-Shapiro and Kessler 2002; Robinson et al. 1994). Consistent with this view, contract breach, or employees’ beliefs that the organization has failed to fulfill its contractual obligations to them, is associated with decreased supervisor-rated in-role performance (Lester et al. 2002), decreased self-reported extra-role behaviors (Robinson and Morrison 1995; Robinson 1996; Turnley and Feldman 2000), and increased turnover rates (Robinson and Rousseau 1994).
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